>> the president's hope for re-election, he is preparing for the debate in henderson, nevada, outside las vegas. and he made a surprise visit monday to a local campaign office and also called several volunteers on the phone to say thank you for helping his re-election effort. >> everything you do ends up making a huge difference in us being able to win nevada and win the election. so, just keep it up. >> nancy cordes is in henderson, covering the obama campaign. good morning. >> reporter: norah, good morning. while the president does his homework, the obama campaign team is working hard itself to trying to lower expectations for the president's performance. white house press corps was chuckling yesterday when they tried to argue that the president's tendency toward answers may be a liability in a debate where candidates are expected to be succinct. they're also arguing that the president hasn't had as much time to prepare for this debate as governor romney. we don't know exactly how much less time he has had, because the campaign doesn't tell us how much time he spends practicing. the